1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to communication systems and in particular to handling reconnection to a communication session by a disconnected terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common problem with electronic communication and information exchange, regardless of the type of communication (e.g. Voice-over-Internet Protocol—VoIP—, land-line, cellular/mobile/wireless telephone, and others) is that a user terminal may occasionally be temporarily disconnected from the communication network/system, typically due to a localized problem. This problem is more frequently encountered with mobile communication systems where communication (such as a mobile conversation or other type of communication exchange) is routed via a mobile service provider between two or more user terminals. During the duration between disconnection and reconnection of a user terminal, the disconnected user terminal cannot receive the communicated information (conversation, text, or data) being exchanged/taking place between the other party(s) to the active communication session.
Currently, for example, upon reconnection of a temporarily-disconnected party to an ongoing conversation, the participants in the conversation are often required or requested to repeat the missed conversation that was exchanged during the period in which the disconnected party's user terminal was temporarily disconnected. This repeat of missed communication takes additional effort on the part of the participants, who have to identify the point in the conversation that communications was lost with the disconnected party's terminal, recall the content of what was exchanged during the interim period, and then repeat portions of the conversation that was missed. In larger group communications, such as a conference call, such a call for a repeat of communication would cause a disruption/stoppage of the ongoing conference, leading to a great inconvenience for the other conference participants. Valuable time will also be lost in bringing the now re-connected party up to speed. Also, a verbal summary of a conversation shared by one of the participants is often deficient in providing a complete/accurate picture to the disconnect party of what content/conversation exactly was exchanged during the period of disconnection.